this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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We've pretty much completely discounted astrology as having any meaningful impact on a person's personality. But what about the seasons of the year, and the weather that comes with them? The stars position in the sky are an indication of the seasons on earth. Right? Wouldn't a baby that is born into a world of sunshine and warmth have a different early development than one born into the cold and darkness of winter? Has any research been done on the impacts of a baby's environmental conditions on their personality?

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[–] theywilleatthestars 14 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Being born in the winter is a risk factor for schizophrenia. Kids born closer to the end of their school year are more likely to be diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life since in preschool/kindergarten a few months are still significant in terms of development

[–] Anticorp 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That first point seems to indicate that there is a correlation between the weather and personality for babies.

[–] theywilleatthestars 7 points 3 months ago

I mean probably. Personality is shaped by all kinds of things, most of which we're nowhere close to understanding

[–] BilboBargains 4 points 3 months ago

That people know this and still continue with our antiquated school systems implies there is a correlation between astrology and the people who run our society. It's the same idiots.

It is estimated that 30% of the UK male prison population has ADHD.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You may be interested in a Epigenetics It's a scientific field that studies environmental influence among other things.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The "among other things" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Developmental biology seems much more relevant to this case.

[–] Anticorp 4 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I wouldn't be surprised, but I haven't heard of any positive results like that.

One thing is that kids that are born near the beginning of the year tend to have an advantage in school and sports, being older than other people nominally in the same age group. You notice a lot of January birthdays in top athletes. That has more to do with human systems derived from the seasons though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Somewhat related, I wonder how much of an effect birth month can have on a child's school performance, social development, and athletic ability.

Where I live, a child is eligible for junior kindergarten starting in September of the year they turn four. A child born in January would therefore be around 56 months old on their first day of school. Meanwhile, a child born in December would be around 45 months instead. That is a substantial gap, and my experience with kids that age is that even a difference of a few months can see dramatic changes.

I'm personally thinking right now of my nephew, who starts JK in a few weeks. He will turn four right before Christmas, and when he returns from holidays, some of his classmates will start turning six because he'll be in a combined JK/SK class. I can't imagine how difficult it might be for him to keep up with those much older classmates, a situation caused by virtue of his birthday.

[–] Anticorp 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It's not uncommon to hold November and December babies back a year for their first year at school, depending on their development for their age. Someone else commented that kids born closer to the end of the school year do worse in school.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

A child born into winter will experience summer soon enough unless something bad happens. I'm certainly not an expert on babies and their development, but I'd think it matters little. A more interesting topic might be the pregnancy - fetal development sets the course for the next few years or even decades, I'm thinking about epigenetic imprinting. That would certainly have an influence, but since we do not have mating seasons (well, spring and december maybe) I'd wager the impact is comparably low.

[–] clockwork_octopus 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Possibly, though seasons vary wildly across the earth, so results would likely be limited to regions, and even then, we travel around a lot and have things like electricity and indoor heating which would probably negate most impacts.

[–] Dicska 2 points 3 months ago

Plus, the pie is cut up into so many slices that I doubt you could tell the (consistent and significant) difference between the 20th of July and the 1st of August.

On top of that, when it comes to influence on your personality, literally one day (the day you were born) vs. the first 10-16 years in your life... I don't know man.

[–] HootinNHollerin 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The thing is that the signs should now include a 13th to account for the procession. The whole thing is bs to me.

[–] Anticorp 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] HootinNHollerin 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Anticorp 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Interesting. So you're saying that we'd need to add a new sign because there is a constellation in the sky today that wasn't visible 5000 years ago? That's pretty neat if I understand it correctly.

In case my question wasn't clear, I was only asking about the impact of the weather when a baby is born, and not about astrology. The only link to astrology is that the star positions change throughout the year.

[–] tabris 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But then wouldn't you also need to look at the temperature of the hospital/building they are in? Or the air pressure? Wouldn't that have a bigger effect on them seeing as the building would protect the baby from the weather outside?

[–] Anticorp 1 points 3 months ago

I didn't mean like the moment they were born. I meant the overall conditions for the first several months of their lives.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Test your hypothesis. If it’s valid, you can make observations about people and from those you will be able to reliably predict their birthdate. Publish your results.

[–] serenissi 2 points 3 months ago

Maybe but there are tons of other factors too and honestly we don't know yet. But the astrologers neither.. So no, no connection with astrology which is just a guesswork.